Tobi Amusan stormed to a dominant victory in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Rabat Diamond League on Sunday, clocking a meet record of 12.45s to reignite her season and spark widespread celebration among Nigerian fans, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 2022 world champion and world record holder broke the previous meet mark of 12.51s set by American Brianna McNeal in 2018. Her performance, also a season’s best, came after what she described as a challenging start to the year.
“It’s been a bit of a rough season for me,” Amusan said.
“But I kept my head down, trusted the process, believed in God and put in the work. Coming out here today, I just wanted to execute a clean race. Honestly, I don’t even know exactly what I did. I just knew I was running, and all glory to God.”
The Nigerian sprinter led the race from the gun, pulling away from her rivals before crossing the line with a clear margin. Nadine Visser of the Netherlands finished second with 12.67s, while Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska came third with 12.69s.
The event featured a strong field, with several athletes recording season and personal bests under favourable wind conditions of +1.2 m/s.
Reflecting on her recent form, Amusan revealed that adjustments to her training regimen have started to yield results.
“After the first two Diamond League meetings, I realised I had to get back to proper hurdles drills,” she said.
“I’ve also added more sprint work, and after just two weeks, I can feel the difference already.”
Amusan is now scheduled to return to Jamaica to prepare for her next competition on the Grand Prix circuit, but not before taking a brief rest.
“I need to rest a bit, then I’ll be back on the track,” she said.
Her return to form has been met with jubilation from fans both at home and across the diaspora. Social media platforms lit up in the hours following her victory, with Nigerians expressing excitement for the hurdler’s resurgence.
On X, user @NGWA_FIRST_SON hailed her explosive start, writing, “That’s my Tobi Express there. If she keeps starting like this, we go break another world record.” Another user, @getgodfree, echoed the sentiment, saying, “Something has changed. I was so happy with the start.”
Similarly, @dphleg wrote, “Tobi is back. I pray it sustains,” while @arhziz noted, “The start is much better. Once that is fixed, her precision with the hurdles and her speed make her a sure-banker.”
Under a separate celebratory post by @Yorubaness, several users praised Amusan’s victory as both a personal and cultural triumph. “Congrats Tobi. Yoruba is the greatest black race,” said @ThomasUthm98773. Another fan, @afilmhead, described her as “Omo wa,” a Yoruba term of endearment meaning “our child.”
In her post-race remarks, Amusan also said returning to Rabat brought back fond memories.
“I was here in 2019 for the African Championship and the African Games, and I won then too,” she said, “so coming back feels like coming home.”
